One thing I've consistently noticed is that at low levels--particularly level 1, Heavy Armor feels extremely impractical, and at times downright harmful to those who use it. Armor choices, in general, seem to railroad players into picking the same (clearly superior) armor types. In particular, at level 1, all you will typically see is Leather Armor, Scale Mail, and Chain Mail.
Let's examine the armor system through six traditional "optimally" built characters who adhere to archetypal conventions (i.e. taking 4 cumulative boosts in their Key Ability for a +4 mod).
Light Armor
Character: a Rogue with 18 DEX.
AC: 16 = 10 + [DEX: +4][Leather Armor: +1][Trained: +1]
TAC Bonus: 0
Check Penalty: 0
Speed Penalty: 0
Character: a Ranger with 18 DEX.
AC: 17 = 10 + [DEX: +4][Studded Leather: +2][Trained: +1]
TAC Bonus: 0
Check Penalty: -1
Speed Penalty: 0
- Padded: Cheap armor for characters who spent their silver on other stuff, or who don't have the STR to carry 1 Bulk of armor. A decent alternative to Leather.
- Leather: The conventional choice. No penalties, low cost, high DEX cap.
- Studded Leather: Gain +1 AC at the cost of 15 extra silver and -1 check penalty. A solid option for frontline skirmishers.
- Chain Shirt: Same as Studded, but +1 TAC, costs 30 more silver, has double the bulk, and is Noisy. Literally no character, ever, will buy this. Period.
Medium Armor
Character: A Barbarian with 16 DEX.
AC: 17 = 10 + [DEX: +3][Scale Mail: +3][Trained: +1]
TAC Bonus: +1
Check Penalty: -1
Speed Penalty: -5
Character: A Cleric with 16 DEX.
AC: 18 = 10 + [DEX: +3][Breastplate: +4][Trained: +1]
TAC Bonus: +2
Check Penalty: -4
Speed Penalty: -5
- Hide: The only Medium Armor with no speed penalty. Still has steep check penalties, but is less expensive. An okay choice if movement is important to you (or for Druids).
- Scale Mail: Smallest check penalty of Medium Armors. Also adds +1 to TAC, a nice bonus, all for a relatively low price. A solid pick.
- Chain Mail: Trades Noisy plus an additional -1 to checks for +1 AC (compared to Scale), similar to Leather vs. Studded. An okay choice if stealth is unimportant or you cannot afford a Breastplate.
- Breastplate: Gain an additional +1 AC/TAC at the cost of Clumsy, and an additional -2 to checks (compared to Scale). Only worth it if you absolutely MUST have that extra TAC and don't mind failing just about every single DEX-related save.
Heavy Armor
Character: A Fighter with 14 DEX.
AC: 18 = 10 [DEX: +2][Splint Mail: +5][Trained: +1]
TAC Bonus: +2
Check Penalty: -3
Speed Penalty: -10
Character: A Paladin with 12 DEX.
AC: 18 = 10 [DEX: +1][Full Plate*: +6][Trained: +1]
TAC Bonus: +2
Check Penalty: -5
Speed Penalty: -10
*Obviously Full Plate is unavailable at level 1; this is simply for demonstration purposes.
- Splint Mail: Lower check penalty than Half Plate (-3 vs. -4) at the cost of the Clumsy trait.
- Half Plate: The "middle" or standard choice.
- Full Plate: Gains 1 AC at the cost of an increased check penalty (-5 vs. Half Plate's -4), an additional 1 Bulk, and the Clumsy trait.
For these six archetypal examples, we can see that AC is more or less the same regardless of armor choice. For all intents and purposes, a Ranger in Studded Leather is about as hard to hit as a Fighter in Splint Mail. Obviously, this doesn't include the use of Shields, but that's not the focus here: we are simply comparing the armor archetypes and analyzing the costs/benefits of them in the current playtest. In that sense, it's clear that AC is approximately the same across types. What isn't the same, however, are the absolutely brutal penalties incurred by wearing progressively heavier armor.
Losing 10 feet of movement means your Fighter can no longer position himself on the battlefield or react to changing situations. Does your Cleric wearing a Breastplate need to climb down into the dungeon? Better take that armor off or take that -4(!!!) to Athletics!
The penalties imposed by Medium Armor seem absolutely draconian and completely imbalanced. It's already Bulky, limiting equipment choices; it impedes your movement significantly; and at level 1, it causes you to fail checks (on average) 20% more frequently than your lightly-armored cohorts. The worst part? It doesn't even give you a significant advantage to your AC. The same problems plague Heavy Armor, but are compounded even moreso by the sheer price. I understand that level 1 characters shouldn't run around in Full Plate, but Heavy Armor is such an iconic feature of the Paladin and Fighter classes, that restricting access at character creation robs them of a crucial element. Heavy Armor helps to distinguish a tanky, "come at me bro" Fighter from a damage-dealing "bro I already brought it" one.
Obviously, there are many ways to mitigate the penalties of Heavy Armor as the game progresses; however, many of these mitigating factors (class feats, access to items of expert/master/legendary quality, magical items, runes) don't appear until at least level 5. However, by that time, all the other armor-wearers have access to them too. This means that Heavy Armor is less "defining class feature" and more "how expensive do you want your flavor text to be".
I will say that I enjoy the mild variety within armor types. The choice between Studded or regular Leather; or between Scale and Chain, for example, are balanced trade-offs, I feel. However, as you shift to heavier and heavier armor, the "meh" increases in AC don't seem to compensate for the extreme penalties to your Bulk, wallet, and skill checks.
Am I missing something? I'd love to hear the community's thoughts on this, but I feel like the Armor system is in desperate need of a rework to better balance the different types.
